By Daisy CL Mandap
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| A Covid-positive worker gets a care pack from the Mission/Bethune team |
Stuck in your quarantine hotel with your phone battery about to die and your charger does not fit into the socket provided?
Find yourself positive for Covid-19 but you’re home alone because your employers are away?
Have no fear, for the
This was experienced by one Filipina domestic worker who
upon returning to Hong Kong on Sunday from her vacation in the
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Lian (not her real name) said she immediately called the front desk at Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi where she is spending her mandatory three days’ quarantine to try and borrow the right charger, but was told they were not allowed to do as she requested.
No amount of pleading worked so she sent out a message of appeal to The SUN late yesterday, saying there was only 9 percent charge remaining in her phone’s battery.
“Good day, pakisuyo naman po. Pa-post po at baka po may malapit dito sa aking quarantine hotel, ang Rambler Garden Hotel. Baka may extra charger po kayo, pwede kong mahiram? Soli ko na lang sa Sunday. Nanakaw kasi ang isang cp (cell phone) ko sa Pilipinas, kasama doon ang charger,” said her message.
(May I ask a favor? Could you please help post this message,
in case there is someone near my quarantine hotel,
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Lian showed a two-prong charger that she had also brought along, but which did not fit the hotel socket.
Her message was forwarded to Bethune House executive director Edwina Antonio who promptly responded with, “Sige” and just asked for more details about the worker, including her room and phone number.
At about noon today, Lian was pleasantly surprised to
receive not just a phone charger but also a “Covid care pack” from the
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| Press for details |
“Salamat po ng marami. Sobrang saya ko, higit pa sa need ko ang dumating. May pagkain at maiinom pa, salamat po,” said Lian.
(Thank you so much. I am so happy because what arrived was more than what I needed. There was food and drink, thank you).
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| Express delivery to Lian at her hotel in far-off Tsing Yi |
What Lian did not know was that the two NGOs, which have been helping migrants for the past four decades, have been hard at work the past few months in extending help to migrants affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
From providing shelter and legal advice and support to distressed migrants, they partnered with groups like Asian Migrants Coordinating Body in delivering food, masks and medicines to foreign domestic workers who were either in quarantine or isolation, wherever they may be in Hong Kong.
This task became extremely important during the Omicron surge early this year, when dozens of MDWs were thrown out of their employers’ flats once they were found infected, were shunned by fellow migrants in boarding houses, or were driven away from the airport when their pre-boarding PCR tests turned out positive.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love |
To this day, the two support groups continue to cook, pack and provide support migrant workers affected by the coronavirus contagion.
“Tuloy ang assistance namin sa mga naka quarantine na newly arrived at iyong mga Covid positive na need ng care packs at isolated sa bahay ng mga amo,” said Antonio.
(We continue to assist newly arrived workers who are in quarantine and those who test positive for Covid and need care packs because they are self-isolating in their employers’ houses).
According to Antonio, among those that they are currently helping are two Filipinas who tested positive on Saturday while their employers were on an overseas trip. They reported their infection to the government but were told to self-isolate.
Another was a Filipina worker who was also at her employer’s home, alone, when she tested positive.
Since all of them are forbidden from going out until they receive word from the Centre for Health Protection that they are already Covid-free, they can only rely on outside help for their daily sustenance and other needs.
Another recent beneficiary of the Mission-Bethune project was an Indonesian domestic worker who tested positive on Monday night and at her request, was moved to a shelter where she can undergo self-isolation.
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| Antonio (right) receives much-needed donation from Seeds of Hope of Yew Chung Foundation |
Apart from those with Covid-related concerns, Bethune House is providing accommodation, food and other needs to 18 “clients” in its two shelters – in Jordan and Sheung Wan.
Some of these clients help in the preparation and delivery
of the care packs, along with 10 other volunteers from migrant organizations.
There is also a local Chinese staff of the
On the care packs, the two NGOs also explicitly give thanks to the
Fu Tak Lam Foundation Limited for its donation “for emergency relief for the
Migrant Domestic Workers in
Volunteer-driven but inspired by love and charity, the Mission and Bethune House have proven time and again that they will stand by all migrant workers “anytime, anywhere” for as long as they are around.
Migrant workers who need help may contact the
Donations are also welcome. Please click this link for details: https://donorbox.org/urgent-emergency-appeal-to-support-hong-kong-s-migrant-domestic-workers?fbclid=IwAR3LTqV80P1qadAtSav18pIynbMaSbmQPfMUUuZQiH6Y56bBwSfEnXx15h8
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